Red Bulls lose midfielder Tim Cahill for nearly a month

The New York Red Bulls will be without Tim Cahill for three to four weeks after the midfielder suffered a torn PCL in his right knee last Saturday. Cahill will not need surgery.

Cahill has six goals in 19 starts in his first year with the Red Bulls. The Australian had to withdraw from the MLS All-Star game — July 31 in Kansas City — because of the injury, which occurred on a tackle by Yordany Alvarez of Real Salt Lake. Alvarez was issued a yellow card for the challenge. Cahill remained in the game after the hard foul and scored the first goal of the match, a dramatic 4-3 victory for the Red Bulls, before getting subbed out in the 85th minute.

“It’s a very big loss to us,” Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke said Tuesday on a conference call. “Like I said, I think it was a very reckless and careless challenge. I don’t think it was intentional. I don’t think Salt Lake plays like that, but I think it was just a very careless challenge to the knee and it’s going to be a very big loss for us.”